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NHL’s Hart Award a toss-up right now

The Associated Press Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Toronto’s Auston Matthews are all in the running to win the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP. MacKinnon has carried the top-heavy Avalanche into the playoffs, Kucherov has played a role in half the Lightning’s goals, McDavid got the Oilers back in it after a horrid start and Matthews scored 69 goals, the most of any player in a season in nearly 30 years. McDavid and Kucherov also became just the fourth and fifth players to record 100 assists in a season. “There’s a ...

McConnell’s roots run deep at SFU

By Pat Farabaugh For the Mirror The NBA announced the finalists for the 2023-24 Twyman-Stokes Teammate-of-the-Year Award on April 2 and one name on the list is synonymous with basketball in Western Pennsylvania. And at Saint Francis. Indiana Pacers’ guard T.J. McConnell was named to the list last Tuesday. McConnell is currently in his fifth season with the Pacers and ninth year in the NBA. He has emerged as one of the top sixth men in the league while backing up all-star point guard Tyrese Haliburton. The Twyman-Stokes Award is presented annually to the player who best ...

As season winds down, time to reflect on Spurs’ sensational rookie

By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press Victor Wembanyama figured he might be getting into trouble. It was a rare moment of celebration for the San Antonio Spurs in this long season, a win over the New York Knicks last month that had another sold-out crowd stirred into a frenzy. He had just intercepted the game’s final pass as time expired. He high-fived a courtside fan, then tossed the ball to someone about 10 rows deep in the stands. Everyone loved it, except the NBA, which fined him $25,000 two days later. Money well spent, he figured. “I remember players being fined for ...

Sports world shouldn’t include ‘evil’

By Jim Caltagirone For the Mirror It’s possible that a man who lived over 2,500 years ago is responsible for initiating our society’s penchant for identifying heroes and villains in sports. The man was named Pheidippides, and he is regarded as the inspiration for the marathon. Pheidippides was a “day-long runner” in the Greek military who is credited with traversing a distance of nearly 25 miles from Marathon to Athens in 490 B.C. to announce a Greek victory over the invading Persians. The course for the marathon in the 1896 Athens Olympics replicated Pheidippides’ ...

Top 10 players to watch at next weekend’s Masters

By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press The 10 leading players for the Masters start with Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player and a past champion at Augusta National. It includes a pair of long shots that have eight green jackets between them. One is Tiger Woods, the five-time champion. He has played only one tournament and 24 holes this year. The other is Phil Mickelson. A major champion in his 50s, he was a runner-up last year at the Masters. Here is a capsule look at 10 key players for the Masters, to be played April 11-14 (listed in predicted order of ...

What’s in a naming right? Plenty

By Jim Caltagirone For the Mirror In my first job as a newspaper reporter, I submitted my copy to an editor who spent a fair amount of his free time walking through local cemeteries. On occasion, he would enter the newsroom soon after completing one of his treks and, beaming like an explorer who had chanced upon a fascinating discovery, eagerly share interesting facts or bits of trivia which he gleaned from the tombstones and memorials that he had observed. His experiences were a reminder that cemeteries also function as repositories of inspirational stories, notable ...